Geoff Calkins: This man has the antidote to first-day-of-school blues

Aug 2, 2013 - Wearing novelty glasses and a baseball cap, Pastor Gary L. Crain waves to drivers in front of New Testament Christian Church at the intersection of Mt. Moriah and Quince during the morning rush hour. Crane’s daily appearance has garnered him popularity with commuters, many of whom honk and wave back as they drive their children to school or head to work themselves.

Special to The Commercial Appeal

It's the first day of school, Memphis. And Rev. Gary L. Crain is ready for it.

He'll be up, bright and early.

He'll put on a spiffy dark suit.

Then he'll drive to his church, the New Testament Christian Church. He'll rummage through his prop drawers to find just the right thing.

Maybe it'll be a hand puppet. He has a bunch of those. Or maybe a colorful cap. Maybe he'll put on a pair of big, bright glasses. He's got a particularly dazzling yellow pair he bought at a dollar store.

Crain will finally settle on an outfit to fit the moment. He'll stride out to the corner of Mt. Moriah and Quince.

And then Crain will do his part to boost the morale of the city he has called home since God and Hurricane Katrina persuaded him to leave New Orleans.

He will stand on that corner for an hour, maybe more.

And Gary Crain will wave.

No, he's not crazy

This is the first thing you should know about Crain: He is not nuts.

Oh, he understands why some people wonder if he might be. Why else would a guy stand outside, on a street corner, and wave at every passing car? Why else would he do this every single day, Monday through Friday, for more than three years?

Crain, 48, waves during the blistering heat of summer. He waves during torrential rains. He waves when he doesn't much feel like waving.

"We all have bad days," he said. "That's why people need encouragement."

And that's the reason Crain spends an hour waving every morning. To offer encouragement.

"It can be a hard, cruel world. Everybody has their struggles. I try to give people a little joy. I ran into a child the other day, and he said to his mother, ‘There's the preacher who makes everyone smile.' "

Crain acknowledges that some of you may still think he's got a screw loose. But you should stand with him for a while.

Drivers brighten up when they see him. They point and honk and merrily wave back.

Cops wave. So do commuters and MLGW workers and teenagers and lawn care crews.

An armored truck drove by Crain the other day.

"Look," he said, pointing through the tiny, thick window. The guard was waving to Crain.

Mothers and kids drive by all the time. Sometimes, they drive by twice.

"A lot of parents tell me their kids make them drive by," said Crain. "They want to see the waving man."

And so it goes, every morning, rain or shine.

An older woman waves as she drives slowly past.

"She recently lost her husband," said Crain, who knows this, um, how?

"Because I talk to them," he said. "I like to say I have two congregations. My church congregation and my drive-by congregation. I have the biggest drive-by congregation in town."

Crain waves to Timmy, a special-needs child. He waves to some people who don't wave back.

"That's fine," he said. "You don't have to wave back. But people eventually do. See that man? He wouldn't wave for a year. But I got him. Now look at him wave."

There is a method to this gladness, according to Crain. And it isn't to get more people into his church.

"It's not about that," he said. "It's about connecting with people as they begin their day. If you wave, if you smile, it can change your whole attitude, which can in turn affect your circumstance."

"Sometimes, I think we should have a city-wide waving day. Can you imagine the happiness that would bring?"

In fact, Memphis has a long history of waving. A man named John Martin waved to passing motorists from 1982 to 1999. Martin always had his dog with him as he waved. They made a national TV appearance with David Letterman.

So Crain is continuing a civic tradition, one cheery wave at a time.

"People don't always want to wave, because to do it means giving a piece of yourself away," said Crain. "But if you do that, your whole day can be better. It's all about attitude."

Somehow, this seems worth noting on a day like today, when the busses may not go where they are supposed to go, and some school schedules will surely be botched, and the traffic will be heavier than it has been, and all manner of things could go wrong.

We can grump our way through it, absolutely. But why would we want to do that?

"Life is an echo," said Crain. "If I give out love, I receive love. If I give out joy, I receive joy. That's why I wave and smile. More people should try it. Whatever you give out comes back."